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 There was only one obstacle that stopped the Hotchkiss – the hole at the top of the exit from the Chalk Pit. And even that was only because I was showing off. Pete had driven through a few minutes earlier in his CJ3A and made it look easy; when he hit that hole at the top, though, his Jeep did a bit of rocking and rolling before it cleared the section, in the process lifting the front nearside wheel a good three feet in the air. My turn next, and the Hotchkiss flew through the Chalk Pit and up the slippery exit slope – and stopped in the hole at the top. At that point, seeing that Pete had his camera at the ready, I attempted to repeat Pete’s wheel-in-the-air trick. I got part of the way there, but the wheel didn’t get anything like as high as Pete’s had. More to the point, in getting the Hotchkiss cross-axled for the photo, I’d ended up with a bad line to clear the hole, and after several botched attempts to find a better line ended up bellied out on the exit hump. Laughs all round as the assembled throng watched Pete haul me off the hump at the end of a strap attached to his CJ. I have another excuse for not matching Pete’s performance through that hole – his CJ3A runs taller tyres than the Hotchkiss and he’s also got a limited slip diff in the rear axle…Our little performance took place at the celebratory 10th anniversary meeting of the Jeep Club, which was held at the Woodlands venue near Brands Hatch. We’d hoped to see more members there, but those who turned up had a superb day’s off-roading. The site occupies 19 acres of woodland with a variety of tough off-road sections; there’s a “white” run for novices or people with less capable off-roaders, a selection of interesting “red” routes and some significally more demanding “black” sections that tested even the most modified of the Jeeps that turned up. Knowing that our Hotchkiss – named Eugene – was to be involved in filming for a Fifth Gear programme on the following Tuesday, we decided we’d better play safe and stick to the “white” routes. However, these proved so tame that we tentatively tried a few “red” sections. Aptly named, because the flat-fender veterans coped so competently with these that the red mist descended and we found ourselves tackling the “blacks” regardless of the mess we were making of Eugene’s pristine bodywork. Probably the most exciting moment for us was clearing White Out Hill. We’d watched several other modern Jeeps tackling the section, which consisted of a deep hollow filled with axle-deep slush followed by a steep rise out and a sharp left into a steep-sided gulley with outcrops to dodge as the Jeep rocked through some ruts. Modern wide-tyred vehicles were making something of a meal of it, the slippery exit slope providing little grip for the spinning rubber. We couldn’t resist the challenge – which ultimately proved very little of a challenge to the little old veterans; a combination of light weight, big torque from the long-stroke 2.2-litre engines and cut-through grip from the narrow bar-grip tyres saw Pete’s CJ3A and Eugene flying through the section with consummate ease. I got my comeuppance a bit later, though, over the Log Step section. I was trying to show off by picking a neat line that would avoid the huge gap between the uppermost logs when my foot slipped (that’s my excuse, anyway), the Hotchkiss lurched, slid and crashed down into the hole. Naturally gales of jeering laughter ensued, but I was at least able to find some grip after some wheel-twirling and eventually manoeuvred the Jeep out under its own steam. Thanks to Jeep Club for letting us take part – we were there as guests because Jeep were showing off their new Cherokee (see the first drive feature elsewhere on this site). Jeep Club have a good calendar of events through the year; coming up are a charity event on September 27 at Abingdon in support of the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance and one at the Tixover site at Stamford on September 28. For more details check the Jeep Club site via the link below.
   
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